This Thursday 18th – Sunday 21st, Prague will host the most prestigious event on the junior European calendar, the U19 team championships.
This event follows directly on from the European individual event with just one days rest for the athletes. This requires some players to perform 13 times in just 8 days, no mean feat. For Ireland, only two of our team have competed in the individual event, a fresh squad will hopefully be advantageous.
Our team, Sam Buckley, Conor Moran, Mick “the nick” Creaven, Sophie O’Rourke and Emma McGuggan are seeded 3. This is a strong team and we hope to fight hard and go two better than our seed. The playing format is two boys and one girl, luckily we have depth in our squad and can rely on all players to win, a luxury in itself and will allow us to rest players if necessary.
Sam Buckley and Conor Moran, both recently selected on the senior team, had a good individual championships, especially considering they are both eligible to play again next year! Conor was knocked out in the 1/4 final and Sam reached the semifinals, pretty amazing to have players like these representing Ireland!

3rd/4th Place Play Off

Last match for our U19 team in the European Champs for 3rd/4th vs Czech Republic. Conor Moran had a super match first on.1st rally had 50/60 strokes & so it went on. Panacek won a tight match. Sam played the U19 champion and fought well but lost it. So 4th place for the team with super play all week. The team didn’t drop a match till the semi final in 5 matches.
Well done Emma, Sophie, Conor, Michael & Sam with coach David Noone and manager Sandra McGugan. Proud of you all!!